Advice needed

Hello out there in catfish land. I need some help with some cating. I have caught my fair share of cats in the past (channel) and was wanting some advice. I just got permission to fish a farm pond close to my house and the lady who owns it has NO Idea what was stocked in it. She thinks there are a few bass I have yet to catch any of size greater than 4 inches. She also said that there are too many blue gills which is true, I have caught a few and they are all exactly the same size (stunned growth). She did say she thinks there are some good cats and carp in there. I have seen a carp or two in the 5 pound range while pulling up to the pond a few times but was wanting to start shooting for the cats since they seem to be the only thing in there she thinks they have that I have yet to see. I guess my question is I started to throw some corn and Chicken liver with garlic salt out in a certain spot to get them hungry on the chum. I CANT for the life of me, get the darn stuff to stay on a hook (Chicken Liver). Can anyone help me with this? ? ? I use a regular hook and bait it up like a worm. You know hook through it and swoop back through it and so on. There just is no part of liver in the container that has a good portion to hook through. The stuff is just so slimy that I loose a lot of it when I cast. Anyway, any help thoughts or ideas would be helpful like what others use for channel cat bait.

If you are set on using liver I'd buy beef liver. It's a lot tougher than chicken liver and stays on the hook better. I've seen several different ways of fishing liver, but the easiest by far is with a treble hook.

I 'd guess the primary food source for the cats to be bluegills from what you've told us. I'd catch a handful of those small gills on rod & reel (to be legal), and use them for bait. Try using both live and cut gill to see what they prefer.

Beef liver will work sometimes, but the chicken liver has always out done the beef. First trick that I found to be helpful is use a decent sized hook. If you are using a whole liver at a time, there is white tissue that holds the two pieces together. That stuff is pretty tough and you can put the hook through the liver a couple times and push that white stuff through the hook point before you are done. The fresher the liver, the better it stays on the hooks. We have used stuff that has been out in the sun for a couple days in 90 degree weather and that is some rank stuff. Best bet in that case, that I have found, is get an old pair of panty hose off the wifey that she doesn't want anymore, and cut off a piece, put the liver in, and tie it shut. Then stick that on the hook. We have done that and it works good. Treble hooks will also work. Just remember, gentle on the cast, no matter how you hook it. You can't whip liver out to the other side of the lake like you can a worm. Good luck,

I agree if there are alot of small gills thats the best to use, Im in the procces of getting some cats out of a friends old farm pond, The only thin we have caught any on is the small gills out of the pond. If you are just after smaller channels on liver, i like to use a swivel and a treble hook. This way you can cut yourself a nice slab of liver then take your hook off and push it up through the liver, then snap the hook back on the Swivel and you should be good to go. You can use either chicken or beef, i do better with chicken.

I will explain how I rig cut bluegills for the size channel cats you are after.

First fillet the bluegills. Cut the fillets into 1-1 1/2 squares.
Use appropriate egg sinkers to cast your outfit rigged slip style.
1/0 or 2/0 hooks should be sufficient.
Run the hook through the skin and then back out through the skin exposing the barb. Make sure there are no scales on the hook point before casting. Change the bait whenever the meat appears white. Keeping bait on ice will help keep it firm.

I seldom use the stuff, but when I do, I use fresh cold livers and tie them onto the hook with common thread. Works great. When you need to re-bait, just leave the old thread on, and re-tie the liver over the old thread. This really works nice cwcarper showed me this old trick THE CATKING !!!

I use chicken livers a lot and agree with keeping them chilled.I'll keep the tubs it the cooler.When i cut off a piece,i put the tub back in the cooler.Not all of the liver in the tub will work, only the firm pieces will do.Usually the bigger pieces are firmer and i'll slice me a piece off of one.On hooking the liver on,it sounds like you've got the idea,but watch how big a piece you put on and you'll have to try casting a few times to get a feel for how much to use.The more you use it the better you'll cast it.You get a feel for casting it.Also in a farm pond,i know the gills can be pesty but at the right times don't rule out a big wad of worms on the bottom.My nunber one rule for a pond is to be as quiet going up to it and while i'm there.Good luck hope this helps.

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